Here’s a rare and rather old image kindly sent in by Syd Bird.
The view is from about the Chapel Road / Market Street junction looking down Birkenhead Road to where Hoylake Cottage (the Cottage Hospital as was – opened in 1910 and featured on the BBC website a couple of years ago) is today.
As you can see there aren’t any buildings past the corner of Deneshey Road – though Carlton Terrace had been constructed, with Burnetts Garage opening within the next decade or so. The canopy along the row of shops looks attractive; long-gone now of course and who would have dreamt that  one day there’d be a (vacant) former pizza parlour and a shop called Bargain Booze at the end of the row selling bottles of cider and cans of Australian lager!
Out of shot on the left-hand side is the site of the former Hoylake Institute (see this and then this) Â …I’m guessing the building hadn’t been constructed when this photo was taken?
If I’ve got my location right then just on from the shops is (today) Julian’s Restaurant – but that building in the photo looks much more like the Golden Palace takeaway. It’s as if the next block of shops (John Grahams to Julian’s) hadn’t been built at that time and the photo makes the next block look closer than it actually is? Look at this streetview map and decide for yourself.
Wow what a great photo… in the 1970s I used to wait for the school bus on that very spot (when the YMCA was still there and Farrells’ newsagents was across the road)…oh the hidden charms of those old Crosville double deckers…
Fascinating to see where Hoylake effectively stopped all those years ago…although thinking about it I assume that the large townhouses on the southern side of B’head road may have been in place at that time?
I think the shop on the far right was a chemists – it may have been Woodfield Cooke, they also had branch at Meols. Tattums may have been the paper shop before Farrells. I also remember the “milk bar”/cafe in the centre of the block which was called “The Rendevous” and later “The Lantern”. I can remember the lettering was in pure 50s style at different angles and with music notes. This was the start of the rock and roll era in Hoylake!
Yes I think Woodfield Cooke ended up on the corner can’t remember what was there before them though – I think there were a few of their shops around Wirral. Farrell’s was definitely the newsagents in the 70s and I think early 80s – was Tattum’s before that? Next to Farrells used to be a launderette…and I remember at least part of that canopy still being there in the 70s at the Woodfield Cooke end. My memories are a bit hazy but on the next block along were among others K.Soods (I hated being dragged in there by my mum) and on the corner of Manor Road, a shop which I think was permanently a charity shop – can’t remember what was there before that…I would love to see any photos from the 60s and 70s, sadly I was too young to own such a thing in those days!
Tattum`s was definitely the name of the paper shop in the 1950`s ,I used to be a paper boy there c. 1955. The Rendezvous was a very popular meeting place for teenagers with it`s Jukebox playing all of the latest records. I remember the “Teddy Boys” from Moreton were frequent visitors. I think the launderette was called Merseyside Cleaners in the 1960`s or something like that.
The post mark on the back of the post card indicates it was posted in 1909.
I don’t remember a charity shop on the corner of Manor Road I remember Zena ‘ s sweet shop very well, and the Gem? sweet shop in between Sandringham Ave and Manor Road, There used to be a dairy behind a shop in Manor Road as well, I cant remember the corner shop where it is now a takeaway, Next to Zena s was a grocery store where they measured out biscuits from tins, can’t remember the name co op butchers waterworths veg shop and the wallpaper shop on the corner of Newton Road, Also was it Conolys sweet shop where it was always cold inside. Other side of Lee Road was a gents outfitters
Ah yes Zena’s! Now I’m not 100% sure if that was the one that closed and became a charity shop…maybe it was further along the row towards Meols?
The grocery shop was Willmott’s. In the days before supermarkets Kenneth used to deliver my mum’s groceries to the door – long before Tesco’s were doing it. Mr Willmott weighed out the tea from big wooden crates into red packets. He stocked real Cheshire cheese and until I moved South I don’t think I’d ever eaten Cheddar. Going further back as a 4 year old ‘Neddy’ Broster (spelling) was the horse that pulled Broster’s baker’s van. Boy am I old! Just seeing this photo has brought back lots of memories as we lived in one of the houses on the left for 50 years.
I think the Gents Outfitters was called “Wells”, Mr.mrs. Wells lived opposite my Gran in Chapel Rd for many years.
I too waited for the Crosville to Park Station, Birkenhead outside the YMCA The block in the photo was to your left as you waited for the bus.
Yes, Zena’s was on the corner of Manor Rd– I used to stop there for 5 Woodbines on my way to University. Connolly’s was in that block — a double fronted shop if memory serves and it was run by two old ladies who always seemed annoyed that a customer had showed up. How they made a living I don’t know.
As I recall, the Rendezvous was not in the block shown in the picture. It was between Lee Rd and Newton Rd.
OMG Zenas, woodfield cooks, Nicks Chippy, the ymca!!! Its all making me feel way too old lol Oh & the Bon Bon, how we loved that shop! xx
In the 70s I used to wait for the bus on the the other side of the road, by the launderette and a cafe that was called the Dorfli I think. I remember Soods – about ten years ago I think I saw Mr. Sood on a train, but he was quite elderly by then and had probably been retired for some years.
I think that the “charity shop” was probably the rather strange little second hand shop called the Bean Stalk. The Gents outfitter was owned by a Mr Wells and the shop was referred to as Wells Corner. In those days there were at least 4 gents outfitters in Hoylake. (Wells, Bradleys Men’s Wear (later becoming Fosters.), Mr Barrie and Arthur Woods. There were also at least 3 shoe shops, Hunters, Dicks and Timpsons.
The current newsagent on the corner of Newton Rd (Personal Touch) used to be a shop selling school uniform which was called Peter Pan.
The Beanstalk rings bells, thank you! When I waited for the school bus to Greasby I was lulled into a false sense of security by never haing to guess if there would be space on the old green double decker. When it came time to cross the road and wait for the bus to the big school (Calday) it was a shock to find that bus drivers were quite happy to leave big-eyed waif-like kids at the roadside! Getting to and from school in those days was never a sure thing…
One of those houses is the one that I grew up in. I well remember Zenas on the corner and the Bon Bon on the block between Manor Road and Sandringham Avenue. The shop on the opposite corner to Zenas was a hairdressers called Barrys when I was there, which was the 1970’s through to the eighties.
Somebody said earlier that they hated being dragged into Soods by their mum. For some unknown reason I also hated being dragged there. The Soods were a lovely family but their shop made me feel very claustrophobic, maybe because it was so dark in there, and none of the clothes they sold were the sort of clothes I wanted to wear.
I never had a problem going into Nicks chippy though.
Hi there Syd – we live in one of the flats on this picture and wondered if we could maybe get a high res image of this, maybe with any more info you have ideally we’d love to print it out and frame it on the wall, I’d be delighted if you could get in touch, many thanks!
I have a rather dark photo of my wife as a 19 year old leaning against the Wells Corner shop in 1975. Her maiden name was Wells and we were young and stupid.
My grandmother lived in Stanley Road and we were on our way for her to meet my girlfriend from university for the first time.
I could attach the picture if there is an email I’d to send it to
I was working at Woodfield Cook from 1968 to 1971 the meols branch and used to pop in to the paper shop Next Door I have a photo of me sitting on the station approach sign which doesn’t seem to be there anymore I don’t live there anymore so can’t find out